The Kidnapped Child
by An0nym0usity
Summary: What if Thalia Grace quit the Hunters? What if Luke Castellan got reborn? What if there was a price? What if that price could not be paid?
1. Chapter 1

_"No!" my mother screams," You can't take her!"._

_"We had an agreement, Thalia Grace," the girl glowing silver, said calmly, holding out a hand, "I have agreed to let you out of the Hunters, so you could live with that mortal, Luke Castellan,"_

_Her calm expression flickered into something of distaste as she said my father's name. My mother only squeezes me further into her embrace and looks defiantly at the silver girl. I've never known my mother to be scared before. The monsters that came into my bedroom at night, she vanquished without blinking. Even when Uncle Percy comes and they get into fights, she always wins it. She's even fought with my father and she doesn't lose control. But the expression on her face scared me. Hoping that silver girl would go away, I buried my face into my mother. _

_"Can't you see, she still needs me?" my mother says._

_"She is almost of age. She does not need for you anymore, Thalia. So have you made your choice?" said the silver girl, taking out her bow, which glowed with almost unusual intensity. _

_I lift my head. My father walked into the room, smiling and laughing. He carries an apron and a lopsided chef's hat. My heartbeat quickens. I can tell that the silver girl does not like my father. He quickly stops laughing and his blue and gold eyes survey the room. He once told me that he once did a bad thing, but Uncle Percy helped him snap out of it. Now one of his eyes are blue and gold._

_Almost immediately, the silver girl has her bow ready, an arrow notched, aimed for my father's heart. My father's hand drifts to his belt. Almost instinctively, I know he's looking for his sword, Backbiter. He then curses when he realizes it's not there. _

_"You think you can defeat a goddess, Luke Castellan?" the silver girl laughs, her laugh as cold and bitter as ice. _

_"Thal's, what's going on?" his voice calm, but breaks when he says "going"._

_The silver girl gives a laugh, but it sounds like a fake one. "Oh really, Thalia Grace, I would've thought you of all people despised things being kept from you, but in turn you are the one keeping things now,"_

_Her expression changes quickly into a blank face. She pulls back the string. My father does not do anything, but stare at the silver girl. _

_"No, please, we were once friends, Artemis, please!" my mother begs, still holding me close. I can tell she wants to rush to my father's side. _

_"No longer. Good bye, old friend," said the silver girl._

_Then many things happened at once. The arrow flew out of the grasp of the bow, turning into a silver shock of light. I heard a scream, and a pitiless laughter. Red flowers blossom out from my father's chest as he fell. I see another silver light. It dissolves in me. Darkness blankets me. _

My name is Erato Grace Castellan. This is my only memory that I have left of my old life before Artemis took me away and erased most of my memory of them. She tries to make me believe that I was found, abandoned by my cruel parents. But I know better. I remember my father, Luke Castellan, with his mismatched eyes and his blond hair that falls teasingly onto his tanned face. I remember my mother, Thalia Grace, with her sharp, electrically bright blue eyes, and her short boy-cut hair. I remember Uncle Percy with his long black hair with that one grey streak, and his humorous green eyes. I remember how Artemis killed my father. I will find my mother and Uncle Percy. I will escape. Whoever finds this note, know this. I am a Castellan. I am a Grace. I do not give up.

Erato Castellan


	2. Chapter 2

I turn restlessly in my sleeping bag. They won't stop coming, the images in my mind keep fast-forwarding at an alarming pace. But I knew every single one. The laugh of the silver girl, or Artemis. The blood sprouting from my dad's chest. The fear in my mom's voice. They keep replaying like some 5 year old kid is obsessively pressing the remote control. Unable to take it anymore, I throw off the covers and step outside. The cold air washes over me, and I sigh in relief. This was my home turf, in the cold and snow. The snow has always been my escape from the intoxicating binding of the Hunters.

But for some reason, the snow seems to be tensed with hatred and jealousy. I look into the trees, blanketed with snow. I know the feeling when someone's watching me. Then I see her. She wears a dress made of pure white. Her skin was as white as the dress and the snow falling around her. I shook my head and opened my eyes wider in shock. The snow was not falling on her. It curved around her, like if she was in a hamster ball. Her hair was long and silky black with eyes the color of melted chocolate. I was instantly jealous. I hated my plain, short black hair and my gold eyes. She radiated beauty. But as she turned around, she wore an expression of distaste, so strong, she didn't look so beautiful. I slowly knelt down and laid almost touching the snow with my chin. The only useful thing I've learned during my kidnapping with the Hunters, was how to stay still, so no one could see you. The girl hears me and slowly swivels to where I'm hiding.

"Khione!" a voice says as she walks near her.

I hide a gasp of shock. I know that voice. I've lived with her for over 6 years. She was the one that kidnapped me. It was Artemis, or so I thought.

"Ah, "said Khione, making a bunch of gargled hissing and sharp barking noises, "My real mother says that the time is nearly ripe. They do not know where we hid the real Artemis. Slowly we shall replace the gods and then we shall rule the world,"

"Yes," said Artemis, then revealing sharp teeth that were not there before.

Slowly her skin started disintegrating, peeling and flaking off, until underneath was a lizard with slimy grey-green skin with flame colored eyes with slit pupils. Their jaws jutted out and their teeth curved in. Panic started to build up and my heart beat faster and faster. The lizard let a slimy purple tongue curve out of its jaws.

"I kneeeewwwwww it!" said the lizard as it turned toward me.

I knew my cover was blown, so I stood up and pulled out two daggers, pitifully small against the ice sword that magically appeared in Khione's hand and the large claws that the lizard had. I threw one and it collided with a solid smack against the lizard's chest. But the lizard appeared more outraged than hurt. It leaped onto its fours and leaped toward me, its body transforming into a sleek panther in mid-leap. So I did what anybody would've done. I ran. I knew that I would have to tell someone about Khione's scheme, and about the fake- Artemis. My father was dead. My mother is unknown. I only knew one person still alive and could fight Khione and her little beasties. I heard the old Artemis telling her Hunters about a boy who fought Kronos, the man who went to Tartarus and survived. It was time for an old family reunion.


	3. Chapter 3

Please, Percy, just look for her one more time!" pleaded Thalia.

It broke my heart to hear Thalia, the strongest of the Big 3 kids, pleading for me to look for someone who died a long time ago.

"Thalia, please for the last time, Erato is-" I began, trying not to let my voice break.

"No" said a now angry Thalia,"Listen now Percy Jackson, I am not as easily fooled by the Mist as you are. Find Artemis and find Erato. Please"

The ends of her sentence was punctuated by a dial tone. I sat back down and ran a hand through my tangled black hair. Not surprisingly, I found little grains of sand caught in there. Other men got dandruff, I got sand. One of the downsides of being the son of the sea god. I wish Thalia would just accept the truth, instead of hiding behind a half hope. Erato had to be dead. I could still see her body, burned by the Chimera that sneaked in from the back door. I remembered her long black her and her blue eyes rimmed with gold.

I heard footsteps and looked up. It was Annabeth, holding David, his tangled blonde hair bouncing up and down as she tossed him up and down. Her easy laugh was interrupted by David's gurgley squeals of glee. On the third toss, she looked at me. An immediate expression of concern passed over her face. She set David down.

"Baby, go play with Katherine" she said.

Katherine was the daughter of Jason and Piper who were visiting Leo. Annabeth sat down next to me on the couch.

"Thalia called," I said, my voice nothing but a croak.

A look of understanding passed her face and she put her hand into mine. Her sapphire wedding ring twinkle in harmony with my plain gold band.

"Was it Erato?" Annabeth said softly, giving my hand a slight squeeze.

I nodded. Then maybe a small hope started. What if Thalia was right? She was more skilled with the Mist than we were. She could see through the Mist, when we couldn't. Maybe Annabeth noticed something about me, the straightening of my posture, the sudden light in my eyes, or something, because she started to say "Percy, no, we've discussed this"

"But remember Scorpia, we would've died from her tail if it hadn't been for Thalia. She was the only one who saw through her fake demigod Mist-woven disguise." I argued, getting excited now.

"What about the burnt body we saw? We touched it. No god or goddess could weave the Mist so tightly, it can replicate real touch" Annabeth said, looking at me.

I looked back, crestfallen. Annabeth now looked guilty.

"I'm sorry, Percy, but we have to accept the truth. Erato is gone. We can't just hide behind a half-hope that she's alive" Annabeth said softly, standing up and holding both my hands, her hands soft beneath my rough and callused hands.

Then I thought back to the Giant War, when we forced Gaea back to her slumber. The last Giant, before he died he said that Gaea was so powerful that she could make an entire army from her weaving of the Mist. I learned the hard way that they fought like real soldiers. Chris Rodriguez died and so did Katie Gardiner. My fist clenched as I remembered those lost. Then it hit me.

"Remember, Gaea and the fight with the Giants" I said, looking directly into Annabeth grey eyes.

She suddenly turned uneasy, taking her hands out of mine.

"Gaea almost defeated us with the army of Mist soldiers. Mist soldiers" I said, repeating and emphasizing it.

Annabeth's eyes widened. She mouthed "Mist soldiers". Only Gaea was strong enough, powerful enough, old enough to fashion living, breathing, real objects from Mist. That means there is a slight chance that Thalia isn't the crazy lunatic everybody believes, and that her daughter, or my niece, once removed, was still alive.

"Percy, do you know what this means?" Annabeth said, the joy in her eyes fading.

"Yes, Erato is alive," I whispered, feeling giddy.

"Gaea is returning to power. She made the demigods, us, the people from the Prophecy of the Seven, believe that Thalia's daughter died. There must be a reason. I think that she wants revenge on..." Annabeth says, before covering her mouth with her hand.

"David" she whispers, horrified before dashing through the door.

It takes a few seconds, but then I realize that we caused Gaea the most trouble, Annabeth and I. She would want revenge. She would take away something we would treasure the most. Our children.

I run after Annabeth. I burst out the door of the Big House before seeing David and Katherine sound asleep in the arms of a woman dressed in churning robes of black dirt. She smiles before sinking into the earth, taking David and Katherine with her.

"David!" Annabeth screams before clawing at the dirt.

My mind is shocked. Gaea has appeared and taken my boy along with Jason's little girl. I kneel down next to Annabeth and grab her hands. I force her to look up in my eyes. We stare at each other, before Annabeth starts sobbing. She leans her head into my shoulder. I'm suddenly reminded when I was 13, underneath the sea, in a air bubble, surrounded by gossiping fish.

I hear the muffled sound of clip-clops, and I turn my head, opening my mouth for them to go away, but I see Chiron, and I instantly close my mouth. There are lines of worry on his face.

"Percy, there's an unconscious girl and a hyperventilating satyr near the entrance. Grover is trying to sort things out. But I heard one thing before that poor girl fainted. She was trying to tell me to find her uncle, Percy Jackson and tell him her name." Chiron paused, then placed a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Her name is Erato.


	4. Chapter 4

He wasn't supposed to be this late at school and Jax knew it. He nervously scrunched up his rasta cap in anxiety. He knew Pops would kill him later, since that was his favorite cap but he couldn't help it. His nose was twitching like crazy, and like Pops always said, follow the nose, that's the way you goes. Jax later argued about the grammar of the statement. Jax knew his mission, to be the recruiter of demigod children, the leaders to a haven called Camp Half-Blood. In Jax's mind, it was somewhat like his father's life. Living out in rough schools, (demigods weren't usually the top in all the teacher's list), recruiting powerful children, hey, maybe a satyr got lucky and recruited one of the Big 3. But of course, it wasn't all glamorous. Sometimes, in Jax's case he would get lucky and get child of Morpheus slobbering on a desk. He wasn't the luckiest goat. But the real reason he failed to get at least two demigod wasn't his abysmal luck. The real reason was his panic. His eyes would get all slit eyed and he'd go all goat.

But not this time. Jax was determined not to be afraid, because he scented a child, blood of two demigods, very powerful. He turned around the corner, praying to Zeus that it wasn't a monster. But it wasn't. It was a scrawny girl, with black choppy, messy hair with little bits of leaves and twigs stuck in it. Se was wearing a camouflage army cargo jacket with the sleeves rolled up, to show her skinny arms. She wore jeans with a large rip in one knee and large boots. She had a large, hunting knife hanging from her belt. She was holding a bow and had aquiver of arrows slung around her shoulder. She was trying to break into a vending machine with an arrow. She plunged it deep into the plastic cover. The arrow slid it through like butter. But when she tried to take it out, the arrow head snapped like a brittle twig. The girl gave a grunt of frustration.

As if in a trance, he self-consciously pulled out a crinkled dollar and cleared his throat. The girl whirled around, her bow already drawn and another arrow loaded. Jax almost fainted in panic and fear. Here was a loaded weapon that could make a serious shish-kabob of a satyr.

"Here's a dollar" he said, trying not to bleat in panic. Oops, maybe he was freaking out. Just a little.

The girl paused, suspicion clear in her eyes. Then when she leaned in close, her smell almost overpowered him. He had never smelled this powerful of a scent before on a 2nd generation before. Jax had spent his whole life at Camp Half-Blood and the scent on some of the campers like Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace or Nico diAngelo, smelled even stronger than this girl. But there was something strange. All the Big 3 grandchildren had a specific scent, like David (Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson's son) smelled of sea salt, Katherine (Piper McLean and Jason Grace's daughter) smelled of ozone, and Sammy (Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang's son) smelled of dirt and animal fur, and believe him, Jax knew the smell of animal fur. But this girl smelled of crushed pine needles. It seemed familiar.

The girl took the dollar bill and fed it through the machine. Then Jax inwardly gasped. The scent, her features, the bow, it was all so clear. He only smelled crushed pine needles when Thalia Grace was here. This girl was Erato, Thalia Grace's missing daughter. Now the girl was in a process of ripping a granola bar package out with her teeth. Her teeth were sharper than most and reminded him of a wolverine. That made Jax's heart beat faster as he prepared to say the one word that would probably put him on the Satyr Hall of Fame.

"Erato," he said, uncertainty clear in his voice.

The girl stopped and looked at him, those icy blue eyes rimmed with gold absolutely unreadable. She dropped the granola bar and walked closer to him, slowly pulling out the large serrated knife. His heart beat quicker and quicker. Jax's thoughts were running now, like a river being poured in an ocean, the current of thoughts running so swift, he didn't dare slow it down. The girl thrust the knife underneath his chin and Jax heard one thought only.

"Please don't let me reincarnate into a weed" he thought as he prepared to die.

"How did you know my name?" said a voice so hoarse it couldn't possible be coming from the girl in front of him.

When Jax didn't answer, the girl dug the knife in deeper. Jax winced in discomfort.

"How do you know my name?" She said even more aggressively.

"I don't, I mean I do, it's just I only know you because of the nation wide manhunt Thalia gave out and I wanted to be in there so I snuck into the rec room and overheard Percy and Annabeth and Thalia all arguing and so I saw a picture of you with your burnt body and so you were dead and so-" Jax abruptly stopped babbling, clapping his hands to his mouth.

Erato's eyes opened in horror.

"Uncle Percy thinks I'm dead? Am I?" asked Erato, taking away the knife and looking at her scrawny hands.

Then before Jax could stop her, she took the knife and slashed her right hand. It was narrow but deep. Erato did not move as she examined the cut, looking for any proof that she was a zombie. Blood immediately welled up. Erato looked satisfied. Then she looked at Jax even closer. Then she quickly pulled his head down and probed his curly hair. Jax tried to get out of her iron grip, but he might have well tried to wriggle out of the death grip of an anaconda. Then Erato must've found what she was looking for. Fear ran down his back like cold water. She must've found his horns. Small bumps on the top of his curly head that looked more like warts than horns.

"So , you're a satyr" Erato said, finally releasing him.

Jax fell on the floor and massaged his neck.

"You only need to nod" Erato said.

Jax nodded hastily, then realized that blood still ran down Erato's arm. She gave no sign of discomfort.

"Um," Jax muttered pointing his finger at Erato's hand.

She gave a small look of surprise, as if she hadn't noticed she was bleeding. She took out a small roll of duct tape and prepared to wrap her hand. Jax then shook his head. She was actually going to wrap her hand with duct tape. Jax took the duct tape and put it back down. Erato looked up with flashing eyes. Jax took out a bag of herbs that his mom, Juniper, had given him. He had a tendency to hurt himself with whatever he was holding.

"Oh, thank you" Erato said, a slight blush coming over her face. Then Jax realized her left hand was almost to the handle of her knife.

Jax unhooked the string that held the bag and took out a small amount of calendula, and chewed it slowly. The taste calmed him, and reminded him of times of healing with his mom. Erato slowly backed away.

"Oh no, you are not going to put some spitty weed all over my hand." Erato protested, holding her hand up.

Jax ignored this, took her hand and spit the chewed-up calendula on her hand. All the tense muscles in Erato's body slowly relaxed. Then Jax realized she was actually really pretty, with high cheekbones and a high brow with a serene expression.

"Oh" Erato sighed.

Then Jax wrapped Erato's hand with a linen bandage, sandwiching the calendula in between her hand and the bandage.

An awkward silence descended. Erato opened her mouth, but then closed it too embarrassed to say anymore.

"Say it. It's better to tell a secret, then keep one." Jax prompted.

Erato stayed silent, so Jax thought he managed to offend her. For some reason, Jax thought that would be the worst thing that Erato could do to him, even if he just met her. Jax started to rise, but a strong grip grabbed him. He turned around.

"You're a satyr," Erato stated.

"Yes" Jax said cautiously.

"Do you know Percy Jackson?"said Erato, fiddling with a loose linen string that dangled from her bandage.

Jax almost laughed in disbelief, but he was too scared and a little awestruck at this girl to do that. But he made a choking noise instead.

"Percy Jackson? My gods, who doesn't know Percy Jackson, the vanquisher of Kronos, the toppler of the Giants, the hero who put Gaea back to sleep, the one who once held up the sky?" Jax said.

Erato looked at him, and for a moment, Jax thought he had gone too far.

"Yeah, why?"asked Jax.

"There's information I need to tell him" said Erato quietly, rubbing her forearm.

It was then that Jax realized that there was a jagged scar, and inch thick, running and wrapping its way around her arm from shoulder to elbow. Erato paused as if uncertain she should tell him.

"Gaea's back" she said, "And she's coming back with a way to uproot the gods and destroy mankind. This time, she might actually achieve it"


End file.
